Projections are now on October 4^th at the var­i­ous times listed by each photo.

Everyone has seen an aban­doned build­ing, and some may see an eye sore. But those involved in Grafik Intervention, a project started by Ferris State Professor William Culpepper, see oppor­tu­nity. Seniors in the graphic design pro­gram cre­ate groups, each one explor­ing a dif­fer­ent vacant build­ing in Big Rapids. Through thor­ough research of the building’s his­tory, inter­ac­tion with the com­mu­nity, and artis­tic minds, these stu­dents bring aware­ness to what the build­ing used to be by cre­at­ing pro­jec­tions and involv­ing the city with its future by pro­vid­ing view­ers with note cards to spark feed­back and cre­ative solu­tions. For more on the process behind the pro­jec­tions, visit each groups’ tum­blr listed by the photo, or visit grafik​in​ter​ven​tion​.com

1400 Northland Drive (old Ford Dealership): 8:30pm-9:15pm:

“Our pro­jec­tions show the his­tory of ford, how it came to be, and social com­men­tary on how it’s now and why the loca­tion is an aban­doned space, as well as the prob­lems that Ford has had and the auto indus­try in gen­eral. The idea is to present through visual means the his­tory of the space, bring respect to it, and the poten­tial of what it could become.”

–Craig Cockerill, Senior in Graphic Design

http://​inter​ven​tion​ford​.tum​blr​.com

501 Bridge Street (old Hillcrest Elementary School): 8:30pm-9:15pm

“Our group is pro­ject­ing pic­tures from past stu­dents of Hillcrest and quotes from the admin­is­tra­tion who closed down the school, as well as frus­trated and con­cerned par­ents. The clos­ing was highly emo­tional; by pro­ject­ing these two mediums—type and imagery—we stir up the emo­tions of the par­ents and stu­dents who loved this ele­men­tary so much.”

Stacey Harper, Senior in Graphic Design

http://501bridge.tum​blr​.com

720 N State Street (next to Pennzoil): 9:30pm-10:00pm:

“We’re giv­ing Big Rapids a lit­tle his­tory and ask­ing them to see them in dif­fer­ent way. In the dis­cov­ery of these build­ings, we are find­ing out more about them and inter­act­ing with the Big Rapids com­mu­nity, giv­ing us a bet­ter oppor­tu­nity to know the city itself. It’s always impor­tant for us to know our audi­ence and to com­mu­ni­cate clearly; it was a good exercise.”

–Anne Sutton, Senior in Graphic Design

http://​720north​stat​estreet​.tum​blr​.com

804 N State Street (old El Burrito): 9:30pm-10:00pm:
“The idea of Grafik Intervention is to spark urban revi­tal­iza­tion through graphic design; To leave the class­room and engage the com­mu­nity in a dif­fer­ent light. Design in gen­eral can pro­duce a bet­ter place to live, grow and involve the com­mu­nity. Student design­ers can cre­ate aware­ness at the same level as pro­fes­sional designers.”

–William Culpepper, Assistant Professor of College of Business.

http://​grafik​in​ter​ven​tion804​.tum​blr​.com/